Identical Twin Diaries: Things I was unprepared for

I’ve never hidden the fact that despite been in my late twenties when I found out I was pregnant, I was totally unprepared for motherhood. Don’t get me wrong I love my girls so much and I wouldn’t change a thing but I enjoyed my baby-free lifestyle. Having only got married in the summer, myself and Jay were selfishly enjoying lazy Saturday mornings, eating out whenever we felt like it and planning holidays left, right and centre. I went shopping whenever I felt like it, booked myself random spa days and called in places to get my nails done. Having a family was something we both wanted but didn’t expect to happen for at least another year and having two at once was something neither of us could have ever imagined!

I wouldn’t say I was naive to the fact things were going to change when we found out we were having twins, I knew things were going to be different but I certainly didn’t prepare myself for certain things. So when Mothercare got in touch with me about their online help guides, this got me thinking about what I wish I’d known in advance so I could have prepared myself:

001. Babies make a lot of noise
I never knew this! From gurgling, groaning to full on grunting, our two seem to chatter away even in their sleep. In the first couple of weeks after we came home, I was paranoid that something was wrong with them and it kept me awake constantly but once I learned some babies just don’t sleep peacefully – that helped me get a bit of shut eye!

002. Sleep Deprivation
It seems when you’re pregnant people take great pleasure in telling you, ‘enjoy your sleep while you can!’ Well I have some good news for you, sleep is possible… even with twins. I’ve worked out that I actually only lost about three hours each night – the killer is that it’s broken sleep and you really need those extra few hours when you’ve spent the day running round after two tiny newborns.

003. The Poo
Now I’m not talking about poo explosions, I’d heard about these and I even knew that the first poo our babies did would look a bit odd. What I hadn’t prepared myself for was that I’d worry about it! Colour, consistency and constipation are all now regularly discussed at our breakfast table on an almost daily basis! ‘Have they gone too much?’ ‘Are they going enough?’ ‘Did you hear that noise?’

The good news is that Mothercare have a rather apt ‘Good Poo Guide!’ We’ve already trailed through this and been able to find a multitude of answers to our babies rather potent problems.

004. Time
It takes no more than five minutes for the threading ladies in our local shopping mall to whip my eyebrows into shape! Can I find five minutes to get them done? Absolutely not. If you’ve been watching my Instagram Stories then you’ll know it took me nearly six days to complete my Tesco food order – so there’s clearly no hope for my brows!

Most importantly though I’ve found that despite the long nights, the first seven and a bit weeks of our girls lives have gone by in a whirlwind. And though I knew I’d have less time than before, I never expected it to disappear so quickly.

Some people prefer to wing things and to a certain extent, I do too. I try to take each day as it comes which I think is especially important with twins as you really never know what to expect – each day is massively different. However I like to be armed with knowledge and in a world where everyone has their opinions on how you should parent and what you should do, it’s really helpful to have some unbiased up to date advice.

The ‘good poo guide‘ and the other resources on the Mothercare site have been such a valuable tool since I found out about them. They cover everything from bringing your baby home to pelvic floor exercises. If you’re pregnant or recently had a baby… or babies, confused by poo or battling with the swaddle or not to swaddle conundrum then I highly recommend you take a look. They’ll solve you a multitude of puzzling problems and save you from been put off your cornflakes again!

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Hi, I'm Katy! Girl in the North has been growing with me for over 17 years now since I started my blogging journey and features everything from burgers to babies and everything in between. To find out more about me take a look here or if you'd like to work with me click here.

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